


Mayor, I Shrunk the Town

by 18lzytwner



Series: LazyTown Third Series [2]
Category: LazyTown
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-12-29
Updated: 2010-12-29
Packaged: 2019-06-29 09:45:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 25
Words: 17,492
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15726906
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/18lzytwner/pseuds/18lzytwner
Summary: Sequel to Going the Distance. Robbie is back at it and this time he's really done it. Can Stephanie save the day or will she find herself getting taller?The age difference is not substantial.





	1. Chapter 1

It had been eight months since they’d seen each other last and she couldn’t wait to see him.  She was fresh out of college and she was looking to make up for lost time.  They only had the summer and then she had to be back for her Master’s Degree but she’d worry about that when the time came.  Exiting the train, Stephanie found LazyTown looking much like it had almost six years ago.

          “Oh Stephanie!”  A familiar voice called out.

          “Uncle Milford!”  She smiled and hugged the man with whom she had spent many summers.

          “You’ve grown so much!  I am so glad to see you.  Although I have to admit I was surprised to get your letter,” he said.

          “What do you mean Uncle?”  His pink haired niece asked.

          “Only that I expected you to spend your summer with your parents.  After all when was the last time you saw them?”  Milford wanted to know.

          “I graduated in May.  I promised to stay with them until June and then it was off to see my old friends in LazyTown.  They were glad I was coming here since you’d been bugging them to let me come for a visit,” she smirked.

          “Bugging them?  Is that what they called it?”  The Mayor smirked back.  They shared a laugh and headed for the car.  As they drove to his house, Milford explained things were a little different since her sixteenth summer.

          “Bessie and I are living together so I hope you don’t mind that your old room has been turned into a home gym.  You know how Bessie likes to exercise,” he said.

          “The last thing I can remember her exercising is her dialing finger when she was calling everyone to tell them to vote for you in the election,” Stephanie commented.

          “Sportacus got her to see how much sitting was doing to her hips and she decided that getting a treadmill was important,” Milford confessed.

          “Ah the ol’ secretary spread.  That’ll do it every time.  Glad to see she’s trying to be healthy.  Where will I be sleeping then?”  She asked.

          “In the new guest room.  Wait until you see what Bessie and I have done with the house,” he smiled as they rounded the corner and pulled onto his street.  It didn’t take long to figure out what he’d meant by that as the house loomed up before them.

          “You added a second story?”  Stephanie asked, not surprised to see the house was still yellow.

          “We did.  Originally we were thinking of adding another full bathroom but we soon realized that if we had company they had nowhere to stay so then it became a bedroom and a bathroom.  Then we realized that once we did that there wouldn’t be any yard to enjoy so the only other place to go was up.  On the second floor, we have a master bedroom complete with bath, a hall bathroom, and three bedrooms.  Although one of the bedrooms is more like a storage closet due to the fact that we’re still moving in.  My old bedroom was turned into the guest bedroom and we remodeled the first floor bathroom.  It took a long time but finally it is finished,” Milford sighed as he parked the car and got out.

          “You hired a contractor right?”  She inquired as she exited the vehicle.  She hoped for everyone’s sake that he had, as she knew how all thumbs he could be.

          “Oh yes.  The first one ran out on us but we found a second who was willing to do the work and he gave us a great deal especially once he found out that Sportacus was in the act of retrieving our stolen money,” he explained.  Stephanie nodded and looked forward to the grand tour.


	2. Chapter 2

Meanwhile in a shadier part of town, inside his hideout, Robbie Rotten was up to no good.  He had seen the pink haired one exit the train and knew that it couldn’t bode well for him.  Sportakook would have help in his endeavors and perhaps the town would go back to the way things were before.  Some things had changed and some things had not but one thing always remained the same and that was the town’s “hero”.

          In the years since Stephanie left, Sportacus’ focus had shifted slightly.  He didn’t push the exercising and the healthy foods as much as he’d used to and Robbie figured it was mostly because he was helping the blonde nincompoop to become a hero.  That in itself was a full time job.  However the pink one could throw a monkey wrench into that.  He supposed now would be a good time to test out his latest invention.  Perhaps if things got bad enough Stephanie would leave and take Sportacus with her.  If that left only Zoogle well then he could handle that.

          Robbie went over to his laboratory table and picked up the device for which he had spent the good part of two years working on.  The usual schemes didn’t trick the kiddies anymore and it was time to kick the naughtiness up a notch.  With any luck, he’d be rid of the hero bunch for good before the end of the summer.

          “Time to test it out,” Rotten smirked.  He found an old shoe and pointed the small ray gun at it.

          “Here goes nothing,” Robbie pressed the shrink button and watched as a blast from the weapon hit the shoe directly.  For a few moments, nothing happened.

          “Two years I wasted,” he moaned.  Then he heard a popping sound and turned to the shoe.  The leather was shrinking and convulsing until the shoe was approximately one quarter of its original size.

          “That’s not small enough,” Robbie was disgusted.  Even at a quarter size, he knew Sportakook could cause trouble.  He pressed the button again and waited to see what would happen.  It didn’t take long and the shoe shrank down even further.  Grabbing a ruler off the table, Robbie used tongs to hold up the shoe until he could get an accurate measurement.

          “Exactly one sixteenth it’s original size!”  He crowed. 

          “This is exactly what I wanted!  Look out LazyTown!  You’re world is about to get shrunk!”  Robbie danced around incredibly happy with himself.

          Oblivious to what Robbie had just discovered and all other nefarious plans aside; Sportacus was enjoying his afternoon.  The sun was shining and everyone seemed in good spirits.  Ziggy had promised to take the night shift and he would be able to see Stephanie soon.  Her friends would be going over to the Mayor’s house for a late lunch and he was only three hours away from getting off shift.

          “Afternoon Sportacus!”  A familiar voice called.

          “Afternoon Bessie!  Do you need some help with that?”  The above average hero came over to the Mayor’s secretary and grabbed some of the grocery bags she’d set down.

          “That would be most kind of you.  I got a little carried away and forgot I didn’t take the car.  Herbert offered to help but the store was busy and I didn’t want him angering his customers,” Bessie explained.

          “Well there is nothing going on right now so I can take the time to help you out.  I’m glad we bumped into one another,” Sportacus smiled his characteristic smile.

          “Me too,” the Mayor’s secretary smiled back.  Little did the hero know it was a ruse to help get him over to Milford’s.  Bessie knew that Stephanie would want to see the man in blue and thought it would be a nice surprise.  The second they had entered the home, and they had both set down the groceries, Stephanie emerged from her new room.  Sportacus stood there with a smile on his face and he was still smiling when the pink haired one tackled him to the ground.


	3. Chapter 3

“I missed you too,” Sportacus chuckled as Stephanie gave him a squeeze.

          “You have no idea how much I missed you or maybe you do…” she trailed off as she looked at the position they had themselves in.  The pink one was basically straddling his legs, her arms around his broad muscular chest, and had her cheek pressed up against his.  They quickly disentangled themselves and stood up.

          “I thought I heard a familiar voice,” Milford smiled as he exited the hallway and moved into the kitchen.

          “Afternoon Mayor,” the blue suited hero smiled back.

          “Good afternoon!  I see Stephanie found you,” Milford smirked and this caused both of them to blush.  Only Bessie and the Mayor knew that the two of them were now considered an item and the two had agreed to let the others know as soon as they could.  Still it was slightly awkward having moments like that one considering Stephanie considered her uncle to be like a second father to her.

          “Yes sir,” Sportacus nodded.

          “Well you two run along.  Milford will help me with the groceries now.  We’ll be serving lunch in about two hours so make sure you’re back by then Stephanie,” Bessie smiled and Stephanie promised to be back before they headed out the door.

          “I’m still on duty but nothing says we can’t go for a stroll.  My crystal still works so there is no need to worry about me missing anything,” he smiled.

          “I’m just glad we were able to talk before the late lunch.  I know we’re not planning on any PDA before we both tell our friends but I’ve been waiting eight months…” the sentence hung there and a smirked crossed her face.

          “Oh I promise to make it up to you but not here.  We’ll need our privacy and a chance to catch up.  We had a whirlwind of an evening back then and I know we’ve both missed each other but Robbie has been too quiet for too long.  With you back in town, he may try something stupid,” Sportacus explained.

          “He didn’t know I was coming did he?”  Stephanie asked suddenly concerned.  The last time she’d seen the purple wearing villain he’d attempted to make her eat some poisoned cake he’d concocted.  After that the next summer she spend cooped up at her fast food gig and had very little interaction with Robbie.

          “Hopefully not.  I made sure no one else knew except our tight circle of friends and even made Ziggy swear to keep his mouth shut,” the above average hero reassured her.

          “How’d you manage that?  Last time I saw Ziggy, he was well Ziggy.  He’s never been able to keep a secret,” the pink one said.

          “I…” just then his crystal blared.

          “Oh dear, I’d better go.  Mrs. McGill’s cat, Tabby, is up a tree again.  I’ll never understand how a thirty-pound cat gets up in those trees.  Catch you later,” and with that Sportacus was gone.  Stephanie heaved a sigh and returned home.

          “Tabby what are you doing up there?”  The hero asked as he arrived at the tree in question.  It wasn’t as easy as it used to be to save the cat.  He’d grown quite large since his tree climbing days as a kitten.  Now Sportacus had to climb up there.

          “Oh please save Tabby,” Mrs. McGill pleaded.

          “No worries, I’ll get him.  You may want to consider not letting him out of the house.  He seems to have dug himself into this branch,” Sportacus told her as he shimmied over to the overweight cat. 

          Unbeknownst to our hero, Robbie was in the next tree waiting for him.  He’d swiped the cat and dropped him off on the highest branch he could get to.  Then he sat back and waited.  Ideally he wanted the hero to be unconscious when he zapped him because he could make sure that he actually got him but it would be nearly impossible for that so he had to try to slow him down somehow.  Silently, he aimed the ray gun at Sportacus and pulled the trigger.


	4. Chapter 4

The group began arriving for lunch and Stephanie greeted each of them.  Trixie and Stingy came together, which wasn’t a surprise as they were practically joined at the hip since high school.  Ziggy dropped by, grabbed a quick hello and a sandwich, and was off to find Sportacus.  He was due for his afternoon lesson and then he would take over for the hero whilst he visited Stephanie.  Pixel showed up alone which didn’t surprise Stephanie until Bessie spoke up,

          “Where is your other half Pixel?”

          “She’s running a little behind.  Things got a little hairy at work today,” he smiled.  He then turned to Stephanie and said,

          “Amanda apologizes for being late but she promises to bring a treat with her.”

          “I look forward to meeting her,” Stephanie smiled. 

          “Why don’t we all sit down and get started.  I’m sure Amanda wouldn’t mind,” Milford said as he led everyone into the dining room.

          “Good call, I’m starving,” Stingy looked hungrily at the spread the Mayor and Bessie had put out.  Hamburgers, hot dogs, cold cuts, potato salad, macaroni salad, and of course watermelon along with all the important trappings covered the table.

          “Oh boy where to start?”  Trixie looked at the feast before them.

          “Don’t be shy and dig in,” Bessie smiled.  It wasn’t long before people were passing out food to one another and Pixel made sure to save some aside for his girlfriend. 

          “Knock, knock.  Anybody here?”  Pixel scooted from his seat and quickly went to help.

          “I take it that’s his girlfriend,” there was something in Stephanie’s tone that made Trixie raise her eyebrows.

          “Jealous?”  Her friend asked.

          “No just…” she trailed off as the two entered the room.

          “Hey everybody!  Did you miss me?”  The woman laughed as she placed a shopping bag on her chair.  Stephanie gave her a once over and tried to make a decision about this new person in the group.  She was shorter than Pixel by about six inches she figured and she wore her medium length brown hair in a barrette.  She was dressed in navy slacks and a white button down top that had blue stripes. 

          “It is good to see you!”  Bessie got up and gave her a hug as she reached the woman’s seat.

          “And you Bessie.  I brought you a little something,” she opened the bag and handed her a bottle of iced tea.

          “You shouldn’t have,” the Mayor’s assistant said. 

          “It’s a special occasion.  Besides all you have to do is add the vodka and then it’ll be a party,” Amanda smirked.  Bessie only giggled and ran off to the kitchen while Pixel’s girlfriend moved to the Mayor.

          “A little something for you sir.  I know how much you love these,” she pulled out a six-pack of Shirley Temple’s and handed them over.

          “A guilty pleasure to be sure.  Thank you,” Milford smiled as he went for the ice pail behind him on the buffet.

          “Trixmeister and Stingy, you’re next,” Amanda announced.  Stephanie saw her friends look eagerly to the new girl and she apparently didn’t disappoint.

          “Sam Adams,” Stingy started to drool as he took the six-pack.

          “Always a good decision,” Trixie smirked and high-fived Amanda.

          “Especially when it’s already cold.  I know it is something you two enjoy so I hope you can manage to swipe some from Stingy,” she smiled.

          “Oh he’ll have to be stealing it from me,” Trixie winked and immediately set about prying his hands off it.  Stephanie didn’t realize the two of them enjoyed a beer so much of course she wasn’t one to shy away from a drink now and again either.

          “Now for the pleasure of meeting the young lady I’ve heard so much about,” Amanda turned to the pink haired one and smiled.

          “Nice to meet you,” Stephanie stuck out her hand expecting to just get a handshake instead she got a hug.

          “You and I have some catching up to do but in the meantime, your Uncle suggested this,” the woman said as she pulled out of the hug and went into the bag.  She pulled out pink lemonade.  She handed the six-pack over and gave her a wink.  Stephanie checked the package and realized it was hard lemonade.

          “Enjoy!”  Amanda smiled and then returned to Pixel.

          “And for us babe, a little something bottled not that long ago,” she pulled out a three liter bottle of Pepsi.

          “Oooohhh the good stuff and you wonder why I love you,” he smirked as he took the bottle and gave her a quick kiss on the lips.

          “Anything you for you, you know that,” she gave him a wink and the group settled back into their seats and their meal.

          About thirty minutes later while things were wrapping up and the food supplies dwindled, the front door was flung open and Ziggy shouted to the group.  They all immediately left the table to see what was the matter.

          “I found him like this,” was all Ziggy kept repeating.

          “Who did you find?”  Trixie asked.

          “Sportacus,” Ziggy replied.  The group looked all around and could not see what he was talking about until he pointed to his hat.  He lifted it up and there stood Sportacus on top of his head approximately four and a half inches tall.  When Stephanie saw what had happened she passed out.

          “Call a doctor!”  Milford shouted.


	5. Chapter 5

“Wha’ ‘appened?”  Stephanie mumbled as she started to come around.  Everyone had concerned looks on their faces including the now tiny Sportacus.

          “You hit your head on the floor pretty good but I don’t think you have a concussion.  Still I believe a precautionary CAT scan wouldn’t be a bad idea,” Doctor Smith explained.

          “Really?”  Milford asked.

          “You can never be too careful when it comes to head injuries.  I’ll call FunTown Hospital and have them set the machine up,” Smith reassured the Mayor.

          “What about Sportacus?”  Ziggy wanted to know.

          “Medically there isn’t a thing wrong with him.  Physically, I have no logical explanation.  You don’t go from normal size to tiny without some sort of exterior stimulation.  Unfortunately, with his size, his voice is too high pitched for me to understand any of it.  We need a way to communicate,” the doctor said.

          “I could whip something up,” Pixel offered as he grabbed the bottle of Pepsi.

          “I’ll help,” Amanda smiled as she pushed him out the door.

          “Good.  Let me know when you get something and maybe he can give us some insight into what happened.  In the meantime, Trixie would you drive Stephanie to the hospital?  I’m not sure the Mayor is in any condition to do so,” Smith jerked his head to the Mayor who had plunked himself in a chair and stayed there.

          “Stingy and I will handle it,” she nodded and the two quickly went about helping their friend to the car.

          “Bessie, do me a favor and don’t try to rile the Mayor up anymore than he already his.  With his high blood pressure, I don’t want him giving himself a heart attack.  Keep him here and let him lie down.  No media or Mayor-related jobs until he’s back to normal.  I imagine trying to absorb what has happened has him very lost,” the doctor turned to the secretary.

          “Will do doctor.  Thanks for all your help,” Bessie smiled and Smith nodded before heading back to his office.

          “What do we do about Sportacus in the meantime?” Ziggy was concerned.

          “Leave him with me.  You need to get back out there.  We don’t want anyone finding out about this until we have some answers,” Bessie told him and with that the new superhero nodded and quickly left to get back out on his usual schedule.  Miss Busybody heaved a sigh and helped Milford to the couch before picking Sportacus up in her hand and moving him to the kitchen counter.

          “I’ll clean up the mess.  I hope we can get you back to normal soon.  I’m not sure how Stephanie will handle all this if it’s permanent,” she heaved a sigh and Sportacus nodded.

          Meanwhile, Robbie smirked to himself back in his lair.  Mrs. McGill had been so happy to get her cat back she hadn’t seen what happened to the blue suited booby once the shrink ray worked its magic.  No doubt the Mayor and his motley crew would try to keep this all under wraps for the time being and he figured now was his chance to strike.

          Now looking through the periscope, he saw that people moved about as usual, oblivious to what had transpired.  He moved to his disguise tubes and selected the traveling salesman outfit.  It hadn’t worked before on Sportacus but now that it had been twelve years the other people of LazyTown wouldn’t notice him.  He could go around town virtually undetected and shrink whatever he wanted. 

Robbie removed the outfit from the tube and quickly slipped it on.  Once his getup was complete he looked in the mirror.  Another smirk crossed his face, as he liked what he saw.  Heading for his tube, the villain knew what his first stop would be - the police department.


	6. Chapter 6

Chief Dooright was sitting at his desk when suddenly he began to feel funny.  _Maybe I shouldn’t have had that second donut_ , he said to himself.  Shaking his head, he went to find the packet of mint gum he kept in the top drawer of his desk when he realized his hands were getting smaller.  Suddenly his desk shrank and he tried to get up from his chair only to find himself wedged in it as the chair had begun to shrink as well.  The next thing he knew the entire building seemed to shake and rumble before everything went still.  A cry went up from outside his office and the now shrunken Police Chief went to investigate.

          Meanwhile, Robbie smirked at his work.  The police department was now tiny enough to fit inside a glass bottle.  Not sticking around for anyone to notice him, the purple wearing villain headed for the next set of targets, LazyTown’s two firehouses.

          Ziggy was called into action when one of the officers that had been out on duty returned to the department to find it gone.

          “I want this area cordoned off.  No one is to step anywhere near the building.  Someone could get stepped on and no one would know,” Ziggy told the remaining officers that had been called back from their beats.  Sergeant Manningham came up to the hero and asked,

          “I just got a report of Firehouse Number One disappearing.  Where is Sportacus?”

          “I don’t know,” Ziggy lied.  Mass panic was already starting to happen and if anyone found out that Sportacus had been shrunk first, it wouldn’t be good.

          “Let’s hope nothing bad has happened to him.  The Mayor needs to be alerted and so does FunTown.  We’re going to need assistance,” Manningham, who was the most senior ranking policeman, told him.

          “I’ll get the Mayor, you get FunTown, and hopefully we can straighten this out.  In the meantime have the firehouse cordoned off like we did here,” Ziggy said.

          “On it,” the sergeant replied.  The hero nodded and took off for the Mayor’s house.  Hopefully Pixel and Amanda could get something worked out as far as communication devices or this was going to be a really long day.

          “What are we going to do?”  Bessie asked after Ziggy delivered the news.

          “I say that we pretend I just found Sportacus and we’ll go from there.  Tell the Mayor everything and I’ll stop by Pixel’s place on my way back to the police department,” the blonde haired boy said.

          “Ok.  Hopefully Trixie is having better luck at the hospital,” Bessie heaved a sigh and headed into the living room while Ziggy took off for the Gizmo Guy’s place.  It wasn’t long before he reached Pixel’s place and Pixel’s parents let him in.

          “You know where to find him.  It still surprises me he got a girlfriend, he barely ever leaves that room,” Pixel’s dad said.  Ziggy chuckled before heading upstairs.

          “Guys did you get anything?”  He asked as he barged into the room.

          “Dude, it’s been like half an hour.  How would we have anything?”  Pixel asked.

          “Well I was kind of hoping you would because it’s getting worse,” Ziggy said before explaining what was going on.

          “All right, we’ll split our time between the sound amplifier and an unshrink ray of some sort.  Even with all this caffeine you’re still looking at tomorrow morning before we have something,” Amanda shook her head.

          “If you had help would things go faster?”  Ziggy asked.

          “Definitely but with Trixie, Stingy, and Stephanie not here, who will help us?”  Pixel wanted to know.

          “I’ll call Trixie and tell her what’s going on.  Now I have to get back.  Catch you later,” the former candy lover took off as fast as he could.  Little did he know the situation would only get worse from here on out.


	7. Chapter 7

“Well I have good news and bad news,” the doctor said as he sat down in his chair behind his desk.

          “Oh dear,” Trixie shook her head.

          “Good news is Stephanie doesn’t have a concussion.  Bad news is the lump on the back of her head is swelling.  Lucky for her she isn’t going to the prom because I’m sure it would look pretty bad.  Here are some ice packs and some pain medication.  Make sure she ices the bump today and possibly into tomorrow if the swelling doesn’t go down.  Now if by the third day it’s still swollen, I want her back here on the double, ok?”  He instructed.

          “Thanks Doc,” Stingy nodded.

          “No problem.  Have a safe trip back to LazyTown and I hope to not have to see you again,” the doctor winked and showed them out the door.  They met Stephanie at the nurses’ desk and headed back to the car.  Trixie pulled out her cell phone and was about to call the Mayor’s house when she noticed a voicemail.  Quickly dialing in to get her message she found Ziggy had called.

          “We have to get to Pixel’s!”  She exclaimed.

          “What’s going on?”  Stephanie asked.

          “He promised that Pixel would have all the details but we have to help him and Amanda with the sound equipment and some sort of unshrink ray,” the trickster explained.

          “I get the urgency but something doesn’t sound like we’re only dealing with Sportacus,” Stingy commented as he got behind the wheel.

          “I don’t even want to think about it but let’s get over to Pixel’s and see what’s what,” Stephanie nodded slowly, regretting it almost immediately.  Trixie had her swallow some pain medication and the three raced off toward the Gizmo Guy’s house.

          “Catch a load of this,” Amanda said turning up the sound on the local news, which they had turned on since Ziggy had left them.

          “More reports are coming in of buildings shrinking.  First it was the police department then the firehouses now add the library, the movie theater, and the grocery store.  Still no word has come from the Mayor as to what is happening and how LazyTown’s depleted forces are handling it.  Speculation has run rampant and through it all there is no word on what has happened to Sportacus.  His sidekick Ziggy has been unavailable for comment at this time but we have seen him talking with what remains of the police force.  We will keep you abreast of the situation as more becomes available.  Back to you Jim,” the female reporter said as the picture shifted back to the reporter at the station.

          “The movie theater?  Who does that?”  Pixel shook his head.

          “This just in!  Town Hall has been shrunk!  There is no word on whether the Mayor was inside!  More from Christine who is live on the scene,” Jim flicked it back and there stood the reporter with what should have been Town Hall in the background.  Now all that remained were trees and a parking lot full of cars.

          “Call Bessie!  She has to get the Mayor on the news to calm people down!”  The Gizmo Guy couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

          “You got it,” Amanda nodded pulled on a headset and had the computer dial the Mayor’s house.  Bessie got it on the first ring and the situation was quickly explained.  The secretary promised to disobey the doctor’s orders and get the Mayor where he was needed.

          “They need to get a handle on this and quick,” Pixel said.

          “We all know who did it.  Perhaps you and I should make a visit to our good old friend Robbie,” Amanda suggested.

          “If he did it then having the frequency of his shrink ray would help us reverse it,” her boyfriend nodded it was a logical step.  Just then Trixie, Stingy, and Stephanie entered his room.

          “Ziggy left us a message to come here.  What’s going on?”  Trixie asked.

          “We were just about to ask Robbie the same question.  Want to join us?”  Pixel wanted to know.


	8. Chapter 8

Robbie was smirking to himself as he watched the news.  He had shrunk all the popular hotspots in town and without the sizeable numbers of the LazyTown Fire and Police no one would be looking for him.  Well at least that’s what he thought until alarm bells and whistles started to go off. 

          “What the…” the sentence hung there as he went to the periscope.  Five people he recognized had triggered his motion detectors and were attempting to enter the premises. 

          “Poodle will figure out that lock but I doubt he’ll be prepared for this,” the villain smirked as he went over to a set of five cages on the wall and flicked a switch.  All the cage doors opened and out popped his mechanical dog army.

          “Anything that comes down that chute, destroy,” he ordered.  The dogs growled and lay in wait for their quarry.

          Over at the former police department, Ziggy watched as the tiny Sportacus jumped up and down.  It looked like his crystal was going crazy but it was hard to tell with its shrunken size.

          “Something is going on but I’m not sure what Sportacus is trying to tell me,” Ziggy said.

          “Give him a pencil and a piece of paper,” Sergeant Manningham suggested as he pulled out a small notepad from his pocket and a pencil.  They set it down and let Sportacus attempt to use it.  Despite the size difference, Sportacus was able to use his speed to create one letter “R” before tiring out.

          “‘R’?”  Manningham asked.

          “There are hundreds of words that start with ‘R’,” Ziggy sighed.

          “But only one thing that consistently draws us together,” the Sergeant reminded him.

          “Robbie.  Gather what men you can.  We’d better get over there quick,” Ziggy said, scooping up Sportacus. With that, Manningham grabbed every available officer and immediately they piled into a squad car.

          “What kind of weapons do we have?”  Manningham wanted to know as he fired the vehicle up.

          “Three standard issue nine mils and Ziggy’s fists,” Officer O’Toole replied from the back seat.

          “Lets hope Robbie doesn’t have anything huge cooked up,” the acting police chief shook his head as they raced down the road, sirens blazing.

          Meanwhile, at Robbie’s, the group of surprised invaders were struggling to fight the mechanical monstrosities.  Stephanie admired how Pixel’s girlfriend fought along side them and was impressed that she wouldn’t back down.  However she should have been paying attention as one of the robotic dogs clamped his powerful jaws around her leg.  She cried out and went down.  Before she knew it the dog was on top of her attempting to tear out her throat.  Then came the sound of could have only been described as a bellow.  The dog was suddenly off of Stephanie and Amanda was helping her up.

          “Can you put weight on it?”  She asked and the pink haired one attempted it.

          “Holy hell!”  She shouted out.

          “I’ll take that as a ‘no’,” Amanda smirked slightly at her own joke.

          “Look out!”  Stephanie shouted as a dog launched itself into the air, jaws wide.  The brown haired woman turned the two of them and caught the dog’s jaws squarely in the middle of her back.  Crying out, she fell to the floor taking Stephanie with her.  Pixel saw the two of them go down and managed to smack the dog he was fighting squarely on the head with the heel of his boot.  He heard something crunch but ignored the pain as he tried to get over to them.

          “Robo Dogs round them up!”  Robbie shouted.  Suddenly the group found themselves being pushed closer and closer to a wall, the mechanical mastiffs gnashing their stainless steel teeth.

          “Any ideas?”  Trixie asked as she grabbed Stephanie and Stingy grabbed Amanda.  Pixel hobbled over and collapsed against the wall.

          “I don’t have any at the moment,” the Gizmo Guy said, his chest moving rapidly up and down, pain evident on his face.

          “Best think of something quick, I can’t think straight,” Amanda told him.  He looked at the bite mark and the amount of blood she was losing.  He pulled off his shirt and pressed it against her wounds.  Stephanie couldn’t believe how jacked the computer nerd had become but it certainly explained how he was able to fight the dogs with ease.

          “Don’t you go and do anything stupid on me,” he joked with her.

          “What me?  Never,” she smirked but her smirk disappeared as she coughed up some blood.

          “Robbie!  You have to stop this!”  He shouted at him.

          “Are you kidding this day couldn’t get any better.  I’ve got Sportacus shrunk along with half the town and I’ll finally be rid of you guys.  It’s fantastic,” the villain couldn’t control the smile that was spreading across his face.

          “Robo Dogs, finish them!”  He crowed.


	9. Chapter 9

What happened next could only be described as a miracle.  Ziggy and the three police officers busted into Robbie’s lair.  The dogs turned, confused at what to do as their previous order still stood.  This confusion gave Sergeant Manningham and the two patrolmen enough time to fire rounds into three of the dogs.  With their comrades down and the police decided as the larger threat, the two remaining dogs attacked.  Ziggy dodged them and ran for his friends.  Sportacus poked his head out from inside Ziggy’s cap and saw the situation.  Cursing his misfortune, he wished he could do more as Ziggy medically assessed the situation.

          “We need to get Amanda to the hospital.  She’s losing so much blood,” Pixel’s voice was strained.  He was barely keeping it together.

          “Trixie, Stingy, can you guys walk?”  Ziggy wanted to know.

          “Yes but my arm is broken and I have a nasty gash on my leg,” Trixie said as she attempted to stop her own bleeding.  Stingy was busy helping Stephanie whose shin had to be shattered. 

          “I should be ok to walk,” he grimaced in pain as he tried to get up.  One of the dogs had grabbed him in the leg while he was attempting to protect Pixel, who was still pressing his blood soaked shirt to his girlfriend’s back.  It was obvious to Ziggy though that his friend would not be able to get far. 

          “We’ve got you surrounded Robbie!  Put the shrink ray down on the floor and kick it over! Then get down on your knees!”  Manningham ordered turning everyone’s attention to the villain.  With the dogs defeated, Robbie saw his window of opportunity closing and he did the only thing he could think of.

          “All right, I’ll give it to you,” Robbie smirked as he slowly set the shrink ray down and smashed it with his heel.

          “No!”  Stephanie shouted as the officers rushed Robbie and tackled him to the ground.

          “Sergeant call for a medical team immediately!  We’ve got two critical injuries and three serious ones!”  Ziggy ordered as the two patrolmen hauled Robbie back up to the surface.  Quickly the policeman dialed his cell phone and ordered a medical team from FunTown General Hospital.

          “They’re coming but it’s a fifteen minute ride.  The helicopter is on another mission,” he said.  Ziggy heaved a sigh not wanting to say the words that came into his head.  Amanda probably didn’t have fifteen minutes.  She was still bleeding and she continued to cough up the red life giving liquid.

          “Do you hear what I hear?”  Trixie asked, as a whirring sound grew louder.

          “The helicopter?”  Pixel asked; the relief in his voice was evident.

          “We have to get them to drop a basket down.  I’ll be back,” Manningham quickly headed for the ladder and shimmied up.  A moment later, a basket was slowly lowered followed by emergency medical technicians.

          “Which one is the worst?  We only have room for one,” the paramedic explained as he came up to the group.  Upon receiving the call they had rushed to the scene instead of heading to the hospital first, their other patient hanging on for his life inside the copter.

          “She is,” Ziggy said as he pointed to Amanda. 

          “Help me get her into the basket.  My partner will take a look at everyone else,” he promised as they carefully lifted Amanda into the basket.  Then she and the paramedic were off.  They could hear the helicopter head off toward the hospital and Pixel heaved a sigh.  His girlfriend was in no means out of the woods but at least she was in good hands.

          “The ambulances are on their way.  Do we have anyway of getting these people topside?”  The second paramedic asked.

          “I think our best bet would be to pull them up with some rope.  None of them are in climbing condition,” Ziggy said.

          “I brought the rope from my patrol car,” Manningham told them as he reappeared at the bottom of the ladder.

          “Ok gentlemen lets get to work.  Less severely injured personnel up first,” the paramedic instructed meaning Pixel, Stingy, and Trixie would go before Stephanie.  Hopefully by the time they got the first three up the crews would have arrived to help.


	10. Chapter 10

Pixel awoke to find himself safe in a hospital bed.  He remembered being loaded onto an ambulance and everything after that was a blur.  His foot had been raised off the bed, held up by a sling and his right leg had been casted starting at the toes and going all the way up to his kneecap.

          “There he is,” Trixie smiled as she limped into the room.

          “Hey how are you?”  Pixel was glad to see his friend was all right.

          “My arm was broken in three places and the gash on my leg took about thirty stitches but I’ll be all right.  Any word on Amanda?”  She asked hoping he’d heard something.

          “No, I just woke up.  What about Stingy and Stephanie?”  He wanted to know.

          “They’ll both be bed-ridden for the next few weeks.  Stephanie’s shin was shattered and they had to put a bunch of pins in her leg to hold everything together.  Stingy’s ankle and foot are broken and he needed pins too.  You have a bunch of pins in your heel and foot from what I understand.  Looks like we’ll be limping around a lot,” Trixie teased.

          “I have to find out what happened to Amanda,” Pixel attempted to get up and the trickster stopped him.

          “Hold onto your horses there Pixel.  You can’t put any weight on that heel for at least two weeks.  Let me get a nurse,” she promised to be right back and limped out into the hallway.

          Not far down the hall, Stephanie lay in bed staring at the ceiling tiles.  Stingy was in the bed next to her and he was being looked at by a nurse which seemed to be troubling him as he was complaining the whole time.

          “Stingy just do as she says or I’ll have Trixie come in here and kick your butt,” Stephanie finally heaved a sigh and looked at him.  He glared at her but kept his trap shut as the nurse finished what she needed to do.

          “Hey Steph,” Ziggy walked into the room and she smiled.

          “Hey Ziggy.  How is the rest of the bunch fairing?”  Stephanie wanted to know.

          “Everyone will pull through although I guess I can’t say that for Amanda.  There is still no word from the doctors.  That makes me nervous,” he confided.

          “Me too,” she heaved another sigh and they slipped into a slightly uncomfortable silence for a few moments before Ziggy felt his neck being kicked by a very tiny shoe.

          “Oh right.  Sorry,” he muttered and Stephanie gave him a confused look.

          “Someone wanted to see you,” Ziggy blushed slightly and gently grabbed Sportacus off his shoulder and handed him to Stephanie.

          “Sportacus!”  She brightened for a moment before realizing after what Robbie had done her beloved could remain that small for the rest of his life.

          “We’ve got the top medical and engineering minds over at FunTown University looking for a way to change him back along with the rest of LazyTown but without knowing what the frequency was on Robbie’s shrink ray then it will be difficult.  Sergeant Manningham is questioning him at the temporary police headquarters,” Ziggy filled her in.

          “Well I hope they can do something fast,” she gave a weak smile and wished she could give Sportacus a hug.  He would know what to do in these situations.  She could feel Sportacus patting her hand with his and she knew he knew what she was thinking.  Just then Trixie gimped into the room and plopped herself in a chair near Stephanie.

          “You ok?”  Her friend asked.

          “Me?  As ok as I can be I guess.  The doctors just told Pixel that they couldn’t tell him anything about Amanda’s condition because he isn’t family.  Needless to say that didn’t go well,” Trixie shook her head.

          “Good land.  Then how come you could find out about all of us?”  Stingy asked as the nurse left him.

          “That’s because our parents allowed it.  Signed some sort of form allowing certain other people to know about our conditions.  Amanda’s medical records are in transit I guess and until the hospital gets them then they aren’t going to release diddly,” Trixie said.  Stephanie shook her head.  It had to be killing Pixel, not knowing what had happened to his girlfriend and she could only hope the woman who saved her life would survive her ordeal.


	11. Chapter 11

“What do you have Bob?”  Danny Drysdale asked his colleague as he plopped down in the chair next to him with some caffeine infused drink in his hands.  He often commented on how handy it was to have a pop machine down the hall from the lab.  Cracking the top of the can, he swigged some of the green-yellow concoction.

          “The plans we received from LazyTown seem incomplete.  Like there is a page missing or something,” Bob Bugenhagen shook his head without looking up from the plans on the desk.

          “What makes you think that?”  Danny wondered a little confused how the police had swept the criminal’s entire home and missed something that would have been deemed useful.

          “Well it doesn’t exactly read like a How-To Guide.  The plans seem simplistic enough but there are no calculations shown or discussion of how the shrink ray portion was created.  Basically this only tells me how to make the shell.  Technology like this so far hasn’t been compact enough to become handheld,” his friend explained, pointing out what he could piece together and what he couldn’t.

          “So what, this guy’s a genius?”  Danny didn’t believe it.

          “From what I understand, he definitely is of higher intelligence but I doubt he managed to do this on his own,” Bob said before tossing the plans down and leaning back in his desk chair.  Danny set his drink down and took a look.

          “Why don’t you take a break?  It’s almost lunchtime.  Snag something from the Student Union and come back,” his friend suggested.

          “Sounds like a good idea.  Can I get you anything?”  Bob wondered.

          “A meatball sub would be awesome,” his buddy smiled and rubbed his stomach.

          “You got it.  Lots of mozzarella, right?”  Bob smirked.

          “Oh totally,” Danny got out some money and gave Bob what should be enough and then stuck his nose back into the paperwork.  There had to be something they were missing but what?  They hadn’t heard from the medical department about their progress so he figured they were in the dark just as much.  Heaving a sigh, he attempted to figure out what substance could be compacted enough to handheld size without risking the chances of increasing its volatility.

          Meanwhile, back at the hospital, Pixel was beside himself.  He couldn’t get any information, the nurses wouldn’t allow him out of bed, and there was no word on how long it would take Amanda’s parents to arrive.

          “I’m back.  Did you miss me?”  Trixie asked.

          “I could definitely use a good friend right about now,” he attempted to smile.

          “Well then it’s a good thing I am that friend.  I’ve been on the prowl and you should be interested to hear what I’ve learned,” she smiled at him.  This made him perk up.

          “The Mayor has spoken with Amanda’s parents.  Their flight gets into FunTown International by five this evening.  The even better news is, is that I found where they’ve been stashing your girlfriend and I have a wheelchair.  Now you’ll have to keep your leg elevated but I think we can sneak up to see her,” Trixie’s smile grew as Pixel’s face lit up.

          “You always come through!”  He exclaimed.

          “All right now come on.  If we’re quiet we might be able to get by the nurses,” she smirked as she carefully helped him out of his sling.  Next they managed to get him into the wheelchair and used his pillow as a foot support.

          “How are we going to get to the elevators?”  He asked.

          “Ziggy and I have something worked out, just go with it,” she told him.  Speaking of Ziggy, the hero walked into the room.

          “Ready?”  He asked.

          “Ready,” Trixie nodded.  They cautiously walked to the door and peered out.  The nurses were busy at the desk and Trixie began to hobble toward them.  Ziggy waited for the signal and if she was on cue, Trixie took a spill right in front of the desk.

          “My leg!”  She cried out and quickly she was surrounded while Ziggy and Pixel made their escape to the elevators. 


	12. Chapter 12

The two were able to board the elevator and Ziggy punched the button for the eighth floor.  Pixel was glad of their relatively easy escape but he was concerned why neither one of his friends had told him Amanda’s condition.  He turned to his friend and asked,

          “What’s on the eighth floor?”

          “The ICU.  Trixie only found out what room she was in.  I wish I could tell you more,” Ziggy said.  Pixel only nodded as the doors pinged and opened.  Ziggy wheeled his friend down the long hallway and as they approached the nurses’ desk, Pixel wanted to know,

          “How are we going to get by?”

          “Easy.  I show them my good looks and explain to them I need to see a certain patient,” his friend said confidently.  The Gizmo Guy rolled his eyes.

          “And if that doesn’t work?”

          “Tell them I know the hospital administrator and that they’d best let me pass,” Ziggy told him.

          “I like that idea better,” Pixel said as the reached the desk.  The nurse who was seated near the phone looked up from her paperwork and smiled.

          “Can I help you?”

          “We’re just on our way to visit someone, thanks,” Ziggy smiled.

          “Who exactly?”  The nurse questioned, at this point the two thought they’d been found out.

          “The patient in room eight-eighteen by the name of Amanda,” the hero continued to smile.

          “Hook a right and the room will be on the left about halfway down the hall,” she told them.

          “Thanks so much!”  Ziggy exclaimed and the two continued on their way. 

          “That was too easy,” Pixel said once out of earshot of the nurse.

          “Then we’d better make our trip quick,” the hero told him as he cautiously picked up his walking speed.  They found the room, right where the nurse said it was, and ducked inside.  There were machines beeping and tubes everywhere.  Pixel swallowed hard.  He’d never seen anyone like this and now to see someone he cared about clinging to life it made him shudder.

          “Get talking Romeo.  I’ll keep my eyes peeled for Nurse Hatchet,” Ziggy made a slight smile and moved toward the doorway.  Pixel heaved a sigh and looked at the equipment.  A heart monitor, an oxygen line under her nose, and all sorts of other things he couldn’t identify seemed to be keeping her alive.  It all looked so awful, he just didn’t know where to start.

          “You going to keep staring at me or are you going tell me everything is going to be ok?”  The words barely came out of her mouth and Pixel had practically passed out.

          “You’re awake?”  He couldn’t believe it.  Her eyes had been closed.

          “On and off.  They gave me some gooooooodddd medicine,” Amanda turned her head and smiled slightly, her voice gaining some ground in the pitch department.

          “You’re in a lot of pain aren’t you?”  Pixel asked.

          “The meds keep it down.  Listen to me, tell Stephanie to not be too hard on herself.  I don’t want her feeling guilty,” she said.

          “I’ll let her know,” he smiled as tears started to form in his eyes.  Her took her hand and gave it a squeeze.

          “And another thing; I’m going to be fine.  Don’t worry so much,” Amanda told him.

          “I won’t,” he smirked.

          “Good,” she nodded slightly.  They said in silence for a moment or two before he spoke again.

          “There’s something I need to tell you.  Something I probably should have told you long ago.  We joke and we kid but we’ve never really say what we feel.  After what’s happened, I can’t ignore it anymore,” he paused.  She just continued to look at him, seemingly knowing what was coming.

          “I love you,” the three little words caused tears to fall down her cheeks.

          “And I love you,” she smiled.  He lifted her hand and kissed the back of it.

          “We’re busted dude!”  Ziggy called as he left the doorway.

          “Now run before you get into trouble,” Amanda smirked as she watched the two peel out of the room and down the hallway.


	13. Chapter 13

“We just heard from FunTown University.  They are no farther in finding a cure than they were six hours ago,” Nurse Sarah explained to Stephanie who was in the middle of a very interesting game of hangman with her shrunken boyfriend.

          “Nothing?”  The pink–haired one looked up.

          “I’m sorry,” the nurse smiled slightly and set the food tray she had in her hands down on Stephanie’s table, careful not to squash Sportacus with it.

          “Well thanks for keeping us in the loop.  What are we having tonight?”  Stephanie asked.

          “A hospital favorite, macaroni and cheese, jello, and peas.  Luckily the peas and jello aren’t the same color,” Sarah chuckled.

          “Well as long as the peas are the right color, I’ll think I’ll be ok,” Stephanie winked.

          “How does he eat?”  The nurse wondered.

          “Ziggy said to break stuff up and he can handle it from there.  He went off to help feed all those people who were shrunk in town.  Those who were in the movie theater and grocery store are in pretty good shape but the library and the police and fire companies are in trouble,” she explained.

          “I guess so.  Ziggy and your friend Trixie caused some trouble earlier.  I’m guessing he was glad to get out of here,” Sarah said.

          “What did they do now?”  Stephanie’s eyebrows furrowed.

          “They snuck Pixel out of his room to see his girlfriend.  They are just lucky that they didn’t damage his stitches,” the nurse told her.

          “How is she doing?”  The pink one asked.

          “Her parents are with her now so I imagine better,” Sarah smiled before turning to leave.  Stephanie turned her attention to her food and saw that Sportacus was trying to kick one of the peas like a soccer ball.

          “Hold on,” she smiled and cut the pea with her plastic knife and fork.  He smiled or so she thought he did and dove in.  Giggling, she tucked into her own food.  Stingy, who had been quiet surprisingly, finally spoke up.

          “They’ll figure something out.”

          “I’m sure they will,” she smiled and then turned her attention back to her food.  She was kind of hoping that her Uncle would come for a visit but he had yet to show up.  Stingy, Trixie, and Pixel’s families had been by and promised to come back the next day and she missed the companionship.  Not that having Sportacus there was a bad thing but her parents wouldn’t be in until the next day and her Uncle was up to his eyeballs in matters back in LazyTown.  She had no idea what he was up to at the moment.

          The Mayor, who was doing better, at least on the outside, was busy trying to answer questions at a press conference when someone rushed into the room and shouted,

          “Something is going on at the police station!”  Quickly everyone left their seats and headed outside.

          There they found a sight that they weren’t exactly prepared for.  Right before their eyes the police station was growing.  It grew larger and larger and Ziggy was scrambling around with Sergeant Manningham and his men trying to scoop up all the humans who were remaining their tiny selves.  Quickly people sprung into action and aided them before the building grew to its original size, crushing anything in its path.

          “Do we have everybody?”  Ziggy asked.  The general consensus was ‘yes’ and everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief.

          “What happened?”  Milford wanted to know.

          “I’m not really sure how this happened.  All of a sudden the building just went back to normal.  The only reason we were alerted to it was because everyone inside started running outside,” Ziggy shrugged.

          “Get everyone out of the other buildings and get FunTown University on the phone,” Milford ordered.


	14. Chapter 14

“There’s been a development down here in LazyTown!  The police station has returned to its original size leaving LazyTowners to question why the other shrunken buildings have not returned to their original size, not to mention the people.  The search for clues however might be dampened as the clouds move in.  That severe rainstorm they’ve been predicting seems to be heading our way.  Back to you Chet,” the male reporter from FunTown’s biggest news station reported in and Stephanie had had the volume on the TV turned up.

          “That has to be good right?”  Stingy asked.

          “I would hope so,” Stephanie smiled.  Still it bothered her that Sportacus hadn’t changed back.  After all he’d been shrunk before anyone else had.  She felt a poke in the arm and she looked down.  Sportacus was jumping up and down and pointing toward the window.  Stephanie turned to look and Stingy followed suit.

          BOOM!  Thunder shook the building and the lightning quickly followed.  Stingy looked back at Stephanie who was already picking up her room phone.

          “Bessie!  Where is Uncle Milford?”

          “He’s down at the police station trying to figure out what was going on.  We’ve managed to get everyone out of the small buildings and it seems like just in time.  We’re getting word that the roads are flooding.  It’s possible that the buildings could…”

          “Bessie?!  Bessie?!”  Stephanie lost the connection with her Uncle’s faithful companion.  She quickly tried to dial the line again but got nothing.  Stingy pressed his call button and a nurse came in.

          “What’s the matter?”  Sarah asked.

          “Are the phone lines working?”  Stephanie wanted to know.

          “They were the last time I checked,” the nurse was a little confused.

          “I just got cut off from Bessie.  She’s in LazyTown and…” Stephanie never got the rest of the sentence out of her mouth as a loud ringing noise sounded.  The source of that noise was Sportacus’s crystal.  As the ringing grew louder, the hero grew bigger.  Soon he was normal size and sitting on top of Stephanie’s tray table.

          “Wow does that feel good!”  He was all smiles.

          “Sportacus!”  Stephanie wrapped her arms around his waist.

          “That table isn’t meant to hold your weight,” Sarah said and the hero broke Stephanie’s embrace and hopped down.

          “I have to save Bessie and LazyTown.  Be back as soon as I can!”  He shouted before placing a quick kiss on her forehead and racing off.

          “Ok now I’ve seen everything,” Sarah shook her head and exited the room.  Stingy and Stephanie were so excited that they both quickly called up Trixie and Pixel.  Both were excited to hear the news and hoped that the citizens of LazyTown were all right.

          Sportacus ran as fast as he could toward LazyTown.  His muscles were sore from not being able to use them to their full extent for some time but he ignored the pain and continued speeding toward the danger that lie ahead.  He zoomed past the news crew on their way back to FunTown and quickly the reporter phoned in what he saw.

          The rain continued to pour down.  Lightning flashed across the sky and thunder deafened the people who were attempting to sand bag around their properties.  The heavy rain had caused flash flooding as the streets’ drains overflowed and the nearby creek swelled over its banks.  Sportacus made it to the Mayor’s house to find it without power.  A transformer nearby had been struck by lightning and the surrounding homes were dark as well.  He shouldered the locked door in and went looking for Bessie.

          Robbie heard the news from his temporary holding cell at City Hall.  The security personnel guarding him whooped and hollered when they saw a blue streak zip by on their television screen as the local news station had picked up on the reports.  The villain knew his time was growing short, as the hero would want answers after he finished averting the current disaster.


	15. Chapter 15

“Bessie!  Bessie!”  Sportacus called for the secretary but didn’t hear anything but he could feel the water squelching beneath his feet as he moved into the living room.

          “Bessie!”  He called out again.

          “Here!”  The woman called out from the basement.  Quickly, the above average hero ran to the basement door, which was in the kitchen.

          “What are you doing down there?”  He asked.  He could barely see without the lights to guide him and he feared that attempting to climb down the stairs could land them both in trouble.  His crystal seemed to sense the problem and produced a glow that allowed him to see about three feet in front of him.

          “I went to check on the sump pump and the power went out.  I can feel the water around my ankles.  Be careful,” she cautioned.

          “I’ll be there soon, hang on,” Sportacus carefully and cautiously made his way down the stairs in the dark as water from upstairs began to drip down the stairs.

          “All the work we’ve put into this home,” Bessie moaned from the basement floor.

          “We’ll get this right as rain once…” he trailed off as he reached the bottom of the stairs.

          “I see where you’re going but let’s not mention rain,” she chuckled as he scooped her up.

          “Sorry about that.  Where is the Mayor?”  He asked as they began their ascent.

          “Just get me to City Hall.  We’ll work it out from there,” Bessie smiled.

          “Sounds good.  Any idea who was behind this mess?”  Sportacus wondered as he reached the top and set Bessie down.

          “Do you even have to ask?”  She gave him a look.

          “I kind of figured.  Just thought I’d cover my bases,” the above average hero shook his head.

          “He’s at Town Hall so at least it’ll be on the way,” Bessie said as she grabbed her raincoat off the hook from the rack near the front door.  Sportacus nodded.  He’d only caught bits and pieces of how his friends had sustained their injuries but it was all he needed.  Robbie would have some questions to answer.

          Pixel listened to the rain pound his window.  He and Amanda would watch the rain on some nights just glad for one another’s company.  Often they would curl up with a good video game or movie and sip hot cocoa, one of the only hot drinks they would drink.  He heaved a sigh.  She’d told him not to worry.  She’d said she’d be ok but he was unsure of how much truth was really behind her words.  How much did she really know about her condition?  Was she just protecting him or was she really going to be all right?

          “Pixel?”  An unfamiliar voice called out to him.

          “Yes?”  He replied.

          “Hi, I’m Amanda’s Dad,” the man smiled and sat down in the chair next to the Gizmo Guy’s bed.

          “Hello sir.  It’s nice to meet you.  I wish the circumstances were different,” Pixel gave a weak smile.

          “I do too son,” the older man heaved a sigh.  Silence fell between them for a few moments before he spoke again,

          “So I hear from the nurses that somebody escaped from their room and went to visit my daughter.”

          “That’s what I hear sir,” Pixel nodded.

          “I think you’ve earned the right to call me Dad.  You love my daughter enough to have sacrificed your own safety and that is good enough for me.  Would you like to see her?”  He smiled.


	16. Chapter 16

Robbie was nervously pacing in his cell.  Sportakook would be here any second and he knew he was in trouble.  He’d been able to keep his mouth shut so far because he wasn’t afraid of any of the men who had challenged him.  The blue elf on the other hand was a completely different story.

          “Rotten, you have a visitor,” the security guard announced and sure enough in walked Ol’ Blue.

          “So Robbie I hear you decided to try to shrink LazyTown and then you tried to kill five of its most upstanding citizens.  You know how much I hate having to clean up after you,” Sportacus heaved a sigh.

          “Those kids were trespassing.  I had every right to defend my property,” the purple wearing villain said coolly, stopping his pacing.

          “You’re right you do but as a parolee you’re not supposed to own any weapons.  Those dogs were weapons so on top of the criminal mischief charges, they will be revoking your parole and adding four counts of assault and one count attempted murder,” the above average hero told him.

          “Say what?”  Robbie practically had a heart attack.

          “You’re looking at serious time but if you help us get everybody back to normal, they may overlook the whole criminal mischief and parole revoking,” Sportacus offered.

          “I want my attorney,” the villain responded.  The hero made a tight smile and nodded before leaving the room.  Robbie’s day just went from bad to worse.

          Returning upstairs, Sportacus found his way to the Mayor’s office to find Milford at his desk, head in his hands.

          “Mayor?”  He asked.

          “Ah Sportacus!  Come in, come in,” Milford smiled slightly and offered the hero a seat, which he took.

          “Robbie wanted his lawyer so I’m afraid we don’t have much yet.  The power company is my next stop.  Ziggy and Sergeant Manningham are checking out the other homes in the area to see if anyone needs help,” the hero filled him in.

          “All right, I guess that’s the best we can expect.  Do you think you can get down to the police station and help the crew from FunTown University?  They still don’t have any idea what made the building go back to normal while the others remain miniaturized,” the Mayor wondered.

          “I’ll see what I can do,” Sportacus smiled and left his seat, heading for the door.

          “Oh and by the way, it’s great to have you back,” Milford smiled.

          “You have no idea,” the blue hero nodded before making a run to the power company’s headquarters.

          At the police station, Bob Bugenhagen and Danny Drysdale puzzled over what they were looking at.  The building had returned to its original size but the furniture and other room accoutrements had not.  In the process many had been destroyed.  The water had been shut off to the building back when it first shrank as the shrinking pipe burst from the pressure.  The water company had managed to avert disaster as they closed the connection out at the street and now plans were being put in the works to figure out how to fix the problem.  The electricity was out and they were using lanterns to work by along with multiple batteries for their laptops.

          “This is going to sound stupid but do you think there was something in the chemical makeup of the building’s exterior that once it mixed with the water, it reversed the shrinking?”  Danny asked.

          “That actually is probably our best lead.  The other buildings haven’t returned to normal so it’s like the ‘add water and watch it grow’ toys.  Lets isolate the compounds and see what we come up with,” Bob shrugged.  They were about to get to work when some construction workers entered the main room.

          “Did someone order a bathroom and some portable electricity?”  The foreman, Joe Edison, smiled.

          “I’ll say,” Danny smiled back.

          “Porta-potties out by the back entrance and we’re getting a portable generator going so we can install some temporary power and lighting,” Joe explained.

          “We appreciate it,” Bob nodded.

          “So do I.  Need any help boys?”  Sportacus smiled as he entered the space.

          “No wonder people say LazyTown is a nice place,” Danny said.


	17. Chapter 17

“Do you know where they keep the construction plans for this building?”  Bob asked after a round of introductions.

          “Chief Dooright usually kept a set in his filing cabinet but I’m guessing they won’t do anyone any good now,” Sportacus heaved a sigh.

          “No, they certainly won’t.  I hope you guys had a computerized system otherwise all the files have been destroyed,” Danny shook his head.

          “Luckily, we do.  The main computer hub is in the basement of Town Hall.  There’s a service tunnel that runs between the two buildings and the servers are located inside an explosion proof room.  I’m hoping that during the shrinking the wires were the only things exposed,” Sportacus explained.

          “Pretty high tech for a small town,” Bob commented.

          “We do what we can.  Speaking of the servers, I’m sure that we have copies of the drawings on it or maybe even a paper set at Town Hall,” the hero told them.

          “Excellent.  If you could retrieve those for us, it’d be fantastic,” Danny smiled.

          “Sure thing.  Back in a flash,” with that the blue suited man took off. 

          “Hey do you have your Wi-Fi up yet?”  Bob wondered.

          “I was hoping that the electricity would be up and running before I went all crazy.  My laptop battery is getting low,” Danny shook his head.

          “Well you’re looking at least another half hour before we get temporary power in here so boot down and I’ll get mine up and running,” his colleague suggested.  Danny went about shutting his computer off when Sportacus arrived back at the police station.

          “Milford had the plans on file and they printed another set.  Thought you might need some scales to get dimensions,” the hero set down the plans and the triangular rulers on one of the extra desks that had been brought in from storage at Town Hall.

          “Great.  Now we can at least get a jump on the structure’s makeup,” Bob smiled and moved one of the lanterns he had to the desk with the plans.  Danny walked over to the desk and pulled up a chair.

          “Do you guys need anything else?  I have to make a run to the hospital to check on a few friends,” Sportacus wondered.

          “Actually I have a question.  Weren’t you the first person to be shrunk?”  Bob turned around in his seat.

          “Yes I was,” the hero didn’t elaborate.

          “How did you change back?”  Danny asked.

          “Maybe it’s my fast metabolism,” Sportacus shrugged, honestly having no idea what had triggered the change.  His crystal had sounded once before and he’d remained small but it wasn’t until the second time that he transformed.

          “Ok well while your at the hospital, stop by the lab where the medical guys are working and let them know what’s going on,” Bob smiled.  Sportacus nodded and then was gone.

          “Robbie, you’re just going to have to deal with what we’ve got.  No way you get off for what has happened.  I’ve called the District Attorney and he’ll be here within the hour to discuss a plea deal,” Edgar Sanchez, esquire, said.

          “There’s nothing you can do?”  Robbie was distraught.

          “You had a weapon in your possession.  One of the girls that you let your dogs attack is in the ICU.  Never mind the whole shrinking parts of town and a good portion of the population.  Cooperate and I’ll see about getting a reduced sentence,” Edgar told him.

          “All right I’ll talk,” Robbie shook his head.


	18. Chapter 18

“That’s very interesting.  You’ll need to strip down to your skivvies,” Doctor Paul Todoro nodded as he gave Sportacus a visual once-over.  The blue suited hero raised an eyebrow, as he had no idea what the doctor was looking for.

          “Um can I ask why?”  The hero wanted to know.

          “Of course, I am sorry.  We need to give you a physical.  Then we can compare your medical records,” the elder doctor explained as he pushed his salt and pepper hair back from his eyes.  The doctor stood a good six inches shorter than the hero and had thick glasses.

          “That will be tough considering I have no medical records,” Sportacus said.

          “Of course you do.  Everyone has one starting from birth,” Paul shook his head.

          “Well then I wish you the best of luck attempting to find one.  Where I come from the only record there is, is my birth certificate.  The only time one went to the doctor was if he or she was injured in battle.  When I left, I was in perfect health,” the above average hero told him.  This astounded the other doctors in the room.

          “How can this be?”  The young blonde doctor, Amelia Schwartz, asked while her colleagues murmured similar questions.

          “It is in my DNA.  All who are born of my people are meant to withstand whatever the world can throw at us from the smallest of colds to a bullet wound,” Sportacus was wondering how much more he should tell them when a nurse pushing a wheelchair entered the room.  The wheelchair contained Stephanie and she did not bother to hide her brilliant smile as the nurse made an announcement,

          “Stephanie witnessed Sportacus’ unshrinking.  You have thirty minutes and if she isn’t back in her bed by then the head surgeon, Doctor Michaels, will be seeing you about it.”  All the doctors nodded and quickly went about asking questions of both people.

          “What was he touching when he unshrank?”

          “Did he eat anything?”

          “What was going on around you?”  The questions swirled and immediately Sportacus whistled to get it to stop.  All eyes focused on him.

          “One at a time.  Do you want answers or do you want to waste the thirty minutes the nurse gave you?”  He asked.

          “Yes of course.  Now if the two of you could explain what happened in detail that would aid us in discovering how to reverse it,” Doctor Todoro once again took point.  Stephanie opened her mouth but didn’t get a word out before someone burst into the room.

          “I retrieved the weather data!”  A man wearing a white lab coat announced.  His disheveled appearance made Stephanie wonder just who the tall thin man was.

          “That’s excellent and how does this help us?”  Doctor Schwartz asked in a rather brusque tone.

          “It tells us where lightning struck during the storm and I have new data being fed to me every time a strike occurs.  That being said, the hospital absorbed a direct hit to one of its lightning rods at approximately the same time Sportacus grew back to his normal size.  This could explain why the hospital did not record any damage from the strike.  His crystal attracted the electricity and the strike was channeled to the crystal, reversing the shrinking ray’s effects,” the man answered.

          “Who are you and what kind of theory is that?”  Stephanie asked.

          “I am sorry.  I am Doctor Wasakowski.  My doctorate is in meteorology and I was asked to come here after the LazyTown police station returned to normal.  As far as my theory, I believe it holds water considering the fact that a nearby transformer was struck but undamaged.  It seems that the longer the building remains shrunk the larger the positive charge that that item holds grows.  This attracts the negatively charged lightning and BOOM! The building attracts the charge and equalizes the building’s charge.  That in turn returns it to normal,” he explained.

          “Is he saying what I think he’s saying?”  Doctor Rajesh Pinaki asked.

          “He wants to electrocute LazyTown,” Doctor Todoro said.

          “Any I think Sportacus’ crystal can help us do it,” Wasakowski smiled.


	19. Chapter 19

“Whoa, whoa, whoa.  You can’t just go and electrocute a town because you think it might work!  You could kill people!”  Doctor Nora Smith argued.

          “We won’t be!  Sportacus’ crystal will channel the energy required and transfer it to the building,” Wasakowski explained.

          “Richard, you can’t be serious.  How will the furniture, equipment, and people change back?”  Doctor Todoro asked.

          “Perhaps I can be of some assistance?”  Robbie asked as he was escorted into the room by two FunTown police officers followed by his lawyer and LazyTown’s District Attorney, Jack Waterston. 

          “He has agreed to cooperate in return for a plea deal.  This is of course as long as he actually helps and nothing bad happens to Amanda,” Jack explained.

          “Good.  I knew you’d come to your senses Robbie,” Sportacus smiled.

          “I’m not happy about it but if I can be on parole in three years, I’ll take it,” Rotten scowled. 

          “Thank you Robbie,” Stephanie smiled and the villain took a good look at her.  Her leg was bandaged and elevated on the wheelchair.  Her skin was not the usual rosy color and even her pink hair seemed duller.  Something twanged inside his chest and he tried to keep himself from throwing up.  _Going soft?_ His head asked him.

          “Yes well, if you want to reverse the effects of the shrink ray, you have two options.  One would be to wait and eventually all will return to normal.  Two would be passing enough electrical current through the object to offset the charge given it by the shrink ray,” Robbie explained.

          “How long does the waiting option take?”  Doctor Schwartz asked.

          “It depends upon the weight of the object and how many times it was shrunk.  For instance, Sportacus has a weight of approximately two hundred pounds.  I shrank him to a sixteenth of his original size…” he was interrupted by Stephanie.

          “He didn’t weigh that much when he was small,” she said.

          “Weight is defined as the force experienced by an object due to the effects of gravity.  When he shrunk his weight should have been reduced to about thirteen pounds,” Robbie explained.

          “He didn’t weigh thirteen pounds.  Ziggy carried him around on his shoulder,” Stephanie pointed out.

          “I’m just using the numbers to make it easier,” the villain retorted.  The pink one nodded and he continued,

          “Anyway in order to reclaim the one hundred and eighty-seven pounds, a person would need to wait approximately one hundred and eighty-seven days before returning to normal.  That is how long the positive charge would take to reduce to normal levels.”

          “So a building that weighed a ton would take five and a half years to unshrink?”  Richard asked.

          “Exactly,” Robbie smiled, happy someone got it.

          “Good Lord,” Doctor Todoro murmured.

          “The plan was brilliant because by the time Sportacus would have returned to his original size, I would have taken over LazyTown and no one would have been able to stop me.  The buildings would have eventually destroyed themselves when the furniture attempted to grow to normal and its surroundings would not,” the villain got all pouty.

          “Yes well what about the electrical charge idea?”  Sportacus adjusted the focus of the conversation.

          “The current would have to be one of great magnitude, waiting would be the better option unless you’d like to cook all the shrunken people like hamburger.  Although I’m told cooking flesh smells like pork,” Robbie said.

          “I think I’m giving up pork,” Stephanie gagged.

          “What kind of magnitude are we talking?”  Sportacus ignored the comment.

          “Unfortunately twenty four hundred and fifty volts applied for thirty seconds will kill the subject.  However if you wish to use lightning that can contain anywhere from a hundred million volts and up.  I don’t even want to think of the consequences on that one,” Robbie shook his head.

          “My crystal will have to do the job of deflecting some of that charge,” the above average hero said.

          “Then pray to whatever gods you pray to and hold on because I have an idea,” the villain said.


	20. Chapter 20

“He can’t be serious!”  Pixel shook his head upon hearing the plan from Stephanie.  The nurse had allowed her to fill her friends in before heading back to bed and much like Pixel they were reacting with shock.

          “Oh he’s serious and Sportacus is going along with it,” Stephanie was obviously distressed.  The Gizmo Guy picked up on it and gave her a look.

          “It is upsetting but if it works then LazyTown will be back to normal,” he smiled slightly.

          “And if it doesn’t?  Robbie will have killed Sportacus and… and…” she stuttered and stumbled over her words, tears beginning to fall down her face.  Trixie and Stingy had been easy to tell because Trixie was busy trying to calm Stingy down.  The boy was freaking out about his town and how Robbie was out to steal everything.  Eventually the nurse came in and gave him a sedative.  Trixie was sent back to bed and Pixel was Stephanie’s last stop.

          “And you love him and you don’t know what you’ll do if he doesn’t come back,” the words just fell out of the Gizmo Guy’s mouth.  Stephanie’s eyes went wide and the tears slowed.

          “How… how…”

          “Because I felt the same way when I saw Amanda go down at Robbie’s.  You haven’t seen him in a long time but my guess is those feelings you’ve always had have finally bubbled to the surface,” Pixel smiled and put his hand on her shoulder.

          “When we were younger I had feelings for you,” she blurted out.  Pixel’s eyes went wide.

          “It wasn’t until I was a little older that I fell for Sportacus,” she quickly continued.

          “So that would explain the frosty reception for my girlfriend,” he smirked.

          “I am sorry about that.  I guess I just wasn’t expecting that you’d actually have someone worthy of you but Amanda proved me wrong,” Stephanie smiled.

          “I appreciate you looking out for me and I really hope that when this is all over, you and Amanda will become great friends,” Pixel smiled back.

          “I’d like that,” the pink-haired one said.  The two sat in silence for a moment before Pixel spoke up,

          “So how long have you and Sportacus been shacking up?”

          “Pardon?”  Stephanie asked.

          “Oh come on.  Since you got here I’ve had my suspicions something was going on.  You just confirmed that you’re in love with him.  You haven’t seen him in five or six years and all of a sudden you’re all mushy?  No way.  Spill it sister,” now the Gizmo Guy was getting tough.

          “I saw him eight months ago.  He dropped by as a birthday present,” she said.

          “And you’ve been seeing each other on the sly?  Does the Mayor know?”  Pixel wanted all the juicy details.  They were usually reserved for Trixie, who would be upset that she wasn’t the first to know, but Pixel was a good friend who understood the situation.

          “We haven’t been seeing each other.  We had one crazy night and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about him since.  My Uncle knows that we’re a couple but he doesn’t know about that night and he mustn’t ever know,” Stephanie poked him with her finger.

          “I never knew you to be the type,” he teased.

          “I’m not.  You want the truth?  You probably figured I’ve had boyfriends up the wahzoo but I haven’t.  There has only ever been Sportacus since the ninth grade,” the pink haired one admitted.  Pixel was a little shocked.  Stephanie had always been a pretty girl and he was sure there wasn’t a shortage of guys asking her out.

          “So I could have had middle school?  Aw man,” he smirked.

          “Yes well you were too buried in your computers and I was busy discovering my feelings for the man who was always there for me.  I could tell him anything, including what I couldn’t tell my Uncle,” she heaved a smile sigh and a slight smile crossed her face.

          “You deserve to be happy.  I’m glad you finally found the man who deserves you,” Pixel leaned over in his bed and gave her a small hug.

          “Time for bed,” the nurse walked in and Stephanie said goodbye.  She passed Amanda’s parents on the way out and gave them a smile before being pushed back toward her room.  Lightning struck nearby and her thoughts shifted to Sportacus and Robbie’s crazy plan.


	21. Chapter 21

“Are you sure about this?”  Sportacus asked as Robbie wrapped electrical wire down his body and then moved to the fire company building some five hundred feet away.  Once the wire was wrapped around the building he split the end and handed it to the shrunken fire fighters.  They had been instructed to wrap the wire around the furniture and equipment inside.

          “Sure I’m sure,” Robbie retorted from his position next to the vehicle.  Although he wasn’t exactly being truthful.  He had no idea if this would work but he hoped for his sake it did.  The rain continued to come down but according to Doctor Wasakowski their window was closing.  The storm was winding down and rain wasn’t forecasted for another week.

          “Ok then I’m sure it’ll work,” the above average hero nodded.  On the outside he was calm and cool as a cucumber but on the inside he was praying to Odin that Robbie was right.

          “All righty the fireman have everything hooked up.  Into the bucket with you,” the villain said.  Sportacus nodded and climbed into the bucket attached to the cable company’s borrowed cherry picker.

          “Lift him up,” Robbie ordered the driver.  The man nodded and the bucket lifted off the back of the truck.  Once the bucket was up as high as it could go, the hero removed his crystal from its secure place and took the extra wire Robbie had given him and wrapped it around his arm and wrist until he reached the crystal in his fingertips.  Then he stuck the crystal up in the air and hoped the lightning would find the target.

          “Hold real still!  One wrong move and it’ll fry you instead of travelling down your arm!”  Robbie called up.

          “That’s encouraging,” Sportacus muttered.  The clouds rumbled and lightning struck nearby.

          “My life is in your hands, Thor.  Make your lightning bolt true,” the hero looked up to the heavens and again thunder rumbled and the lightning struck the crystal.  The electrical charge leapt down the wire and headed for its target.  At first nothing seemed to happen but then suddenly the building shook and groaned.

          “Look!”  Robbie shouted.  The building began to grow.

          “It worked!”  The driver of the cherry picker was excited.  Shouts went up from inside the building and the two had smiles plastered on their faces.

          “Looks like we’ll have this town turned around in no time!”  The cable man smiled.

          “Do you see Sportakook?”  The villain called up to him.  He got no response and quickly ordered the driver to lower the bucket.  They raced to the hero up on the bucket landing on the back of the truck.

          “Sportacus!”  Robbie called out.  He was relieved to see the above average hero stand up slowly.

          “That packs a wallop!”  The blue suited man shook his head.

          “No burns or anything?”  The purple wearing man asked.

          “I’m a little woozy but otherwise I think I’m ok,” he nodded.

          “Good!  Onto the next building!”  Robbie chuckled.


	22. Chapter 22

Back in the hospital, Stephanie was anxiously wringing her hands.  She expected to hear word by now and yet the phone had remained silent.  Every minute that passed made her more nauseous.  The silence of the hospital did not help.  Everyone was asleep except for the on duty nurses and hearing nothing but the beeping of the machines was slowly driving her insane. 

          Every once in awhile she’d hear footsteps, no doubt the janitor or the nurse checking on people, but she silently hoped they would be Sportacus’.  Stingy was still knocked out from the sedative that he’d been given and thankfully he was a heavy sleeper because she was sure he’d had to have heard her sighing every time someone walked by.  Again footsteps sounded in the hallway and again she prepared to sigh when the footsteps stopped.  She turned her head to the doorway and could see someone standing there.  The pink haired one was about to let loose a scream of happiness when he was at her side, his hand over her mouth.

          “Shhh… I’m not supposed to be here.  Visiting hours were over a long time ago,” he said keeping his tone low.  There was a smile on his face as he slowly removed his hand.  Stephanie grabbed his vest, pulled him close, and planted one on him.

          “I missed you too,” he whispered when they parted, the need for air paramount.

          “Did it go well?”  She asked quietly.

          “As crazy as it sounds, it worked perfectly.  Everything is back to normal size.  Medical crews are checking out the people who have been shrunk and structural crews are due in the morning to make sure the buildings didn’t suffer any ill effects,” Sportacus explained.

          “Excellent.  How is my Uncle?”  The pink one wanted to know.

          “He’s doing fine.  Power has been restored in his neighborhood and he’s in the process of pumping out the basement.  Bessie is helping him and in the morning they will have a water damage repair crew out to see what can be saved and what has to be thrown out.  Also he heard from your parents, they should be arriving in LazyTown on the morning train,” he said.

          “What took them so long?  I was expecting them yesterday,” she was concerned.

          “The train was forced to wait out the storm because the river had flooded the tracks.  Luckily they were able to spend the night at the nearby train station and got out on the next train taking a different set of tracks.  It was a long way around but they made it,” Sportacus gave her shoulder a squeeze.  She put her hand on top of his, glad to have him nearby.

          “Should we tell them?”  The sentence wasn’t complete but he knew what she meant.

          “I think there is a lot going on and it may be too much to absorb in one sitting.  Perhaps when you’re out of the hospital and things have calmed down,” the above average hero suggested.

          “You’re probably right,” she nodded.  He gave her a smile and went to sit in the chair next to her bed but she clenched her fingers around his and pulled him close.  The hero gave her a look as she scooted over in her bed.  He got her meaning and popped off his boots before climbing in beside her.  If they were found that way in the morning there would be a lot of questions asked but she needed him and he wasn’t going to ignore her.  Carefully, he wrapped his arms around her waist and the two fell into a deep sleep.

          Morning came quickly and the nurse got the shock of her life when Stephanie wasn’t the only one in the bed.  Sportacus quickly jumped up and the nurse was relieved to see him fully clothed.  He blushed and exited the room but not before Stingy saw what was going on.  He smirked and said,

          “Busted.”


	23. Chapter 23

A week passed and most of the group was released from the hospital.  Amanda’s condition had improved and she had been moved out of the ICU but she would need to stay under the careful watch of the doctors for at least another week to ten days.  Pixel promised to visit everyday and she made him promise to not stress himself out.  He would be up on crutches in another week and she didn’t want him messing that up.

          Stingy had managed to keep his mouth shut but it took a lot of doing on Stephanie’s part.  He wanted to tell Trixie and the pink one understood that but she didn’t want any more people finding out without she and Sportacus being the ones to bring it up.  He bugged her and bugged her and finally after promising him that if he didn’t keep his mouth shut she’d break his other ankle, the miser decided it was best to stay quiet.

          Sportacus visited the bed-ridden bunch everyday until they were at least up on crutches in which case he managed to get them outside for some fresh air.  It was good for them to get out in the sunshine and despite the fact they couldn’t play physically; just enjoying one another’s company was enough.

          “So is everything back to the way it was?”  Stephanie asked.

          “I think so.  The police station is having all new furniture brought in and some work is being done on the building’s foundation but Chief Dooright says they’ll be occupying it by next month.  Right now they’re using his garage as their call center.  Needless to say Mrs. Dooright isn’t happy about it,” Sportacus chuckled.

          “I wouldn’t imagine she would be.  She finally got him to get rid of the junk that he kept in there and now he’s filled it back up again,” Trixie laughed.

          “Anyone suffering ill effects from being shrunk?”  Pixel wondered.

          “A few needed fluids but most were ok once they got food into them.  We did have a few that missed their medication and needed to be observed for heart conditions but they were all out of the hospital before you guys,” the above average hero explained.

          “And Robbie?”  Stingy asked.

          “In jail for the next three years although I talked to Amanda and she says she wants to talk to the prosecutor.  Not sure what about but that could have been her medication talking,” Sportacus said.

          “The stuff they have her on doesn’t allow for too many lucid moments.  They are weaning her onto less potent pain medication so they hope she’ll be out in about three or four days,” Pixel told them. 

          “Is she going to be ok?”  Stephanie asked concern evident in her voice.

          “The doctors are confident she’ll recover.  Her lungs will be scarred from the surgery and she will have some breathing problems but we’ll get through.  She probably won’t be wearing a backless wedding dress but the damage and scars will fade,” the Gizmo Guy said.

          “Wedding dress?”  The pink one asked.  He smirked and pulled a small box out of his pocket.

          “I already talked to her Dad and I’m going to ask her at dinner after we pick her up from the hospital,” he opened the box and showed off the ring which was gold and had a square diamond in a center setting.  It was a simple ring but beautiful just the same.

          “It was my grandmother’s,” he beamed.

          “It’s very beautiful,” Trixie smiled.

“I agree,” Stephanie said.  Both Stingy and Sportacus looked at one another.  The miser began sweating and the hero understood why.  Pixel and Amanda had been dating just under a year and he was ready to take the leap.  Stingy and Trixie had been dating for almost eight years.  He swallowed hard and Sportacus gave him a wink.


	24. Chapter 24

Three days later, Pixel went along with his parents to hospital.  Amanda’s parents were going to meet them there and they would all travel to LazyTown for the celebratory dinner that Bessie had promised she’d make.  Stephanie tried to help out as much as she could while Milford, with Sportacus’s help, set up the living room and dining room.  There were going to be a lot of people there and originally they had wanted it outside but Amanda would not be out of a wheelchair until the physical therapist deemed it ok.  She’d been unable to move very much and the concern was that her leg muscles would atrophy, that and the exercises would get her used to her diminished lung capacity.  She had an appointment the next day back at the hospital and Pixel promised they’d go together.  As much as her parents wanted to stay, they could not and would have to travel home.  They’d been away from her ailing grandfather for too long and Amanda understood.

          “This was not something I expected,” Milford heaved a sigh as the two moved one table next to the other creating a long table for people to sit at.

          “Well I don’t think anyone would have expected it but we’re all in this together and we’ll pull through,” Sportacus smiled.

          “Oh of that I have no doubt but there is something I must confess,” the Mayor said.

          “What’s that?”  The hero didn’t like where this was headed.

          “I spoke to Stephanie’s parents before they left and as soon as she is well to travel they want her on the next train home.  They would not listen to my protests,” he admitted.  Sportacus swallowed hard.

          “Stephanie is an adult.  She should be able to make decisions on her own,” he said.

          “Oh I agree.  Seems though my brother-in-law doesn’t appreciate the fact that his daughter was exposed to the criminal element.  I haven’t had the heart to tell her,” Milford sank down on the sofa and Sportacus sat down with him.  He knew the Mayor was very upset.  He and Stephanie had a special relationship because of her summers spent in LazyTown and perhaps her father did not like that.  The latest run in with Robbie only sealed her fate.

          “What are you two doing?”  Stephanie asked as she moved into the room seeing if people with crutches could navigate.  Her color and mood had greatly improved over the last few days.  Perhaps it was because she was once again among friends.

          “Milford needed a break,” Sportacus stood up and immediately went to her.  He gave her a kiss on the top of her head and smiled.

          “You’re a horrible liar,” she smirked.

          “All right, he was trying to figure out what he did with the chairs.  We need some more folding chairs,” the hero confessed.

          “Ah well those I thought were in the basement but since that’s being renovated, I’m not sure where they ended up,” the pink one said.

          “They’re at the storage unit,” Bessie told them as she walked into the room.  She had flour on her apron and batter on her forehead.

          “What have you been doing in there?”  Milford asked.

          “Well I was making a cake but somehow I managed to let the beaters go and schpluck the batter all over,” she said.

          “Oh dear.  You guys get the chairs and I’ll help clean up,” Stephanie laughed and worked her way back into the kitchen.

          Two hours later the group began to arrive.  Trixie, Stingy, and their parents arrived before the other group coming from the hospital.  Trixie’s mom went into the kitchen to see about helping Bessie while her dad helped Stephanie into a seat.  When all the people with crutches were seated, Stingy’s dad took up his post at the door where Milford was.  Sportacus was outside talking to Ziggy who had just come back from Chief Dooright’s to let him know they were both off the clock unless Sportacus’ crystal went off.

          “There they are!”  Ziggy pointed out the van that Pixel’s parents owned.  Quickly the two heroes helped everyone out and into the house.  They all sat down and Bessie with some help from the parents who had gathered brought in the chicken, pork, and roast beef.  Sandwiches, salads, and fruit was slowly put onto the table.  There were promises of cake and ice cream later and that excited everyone.

          After the meal was over and the table had been cleared.  Bessie went into the kitchen for the cake.  Outside of the friends and of course a few parents in the room, no one was expecting Pixel to do what he did next.  Slowly he lifted himself out of his chair, the plastic boot around his cast allowed him to set it down for a few moments.  He unlocked the brakes on Amanda’s wheelchair and turned her toward him.  Then he carefully and slightly painfully kneeled down.

          “Pixel?”  She was confused by all of his motions.

          “I had hoped to do this somewhere romantic but I couldn’t think of a better place than in front of family and friends.  Amanda will you marry me?”  He asked.

          “Please get up.  I don’t want you hurting yourself,” she said as tears formed in her eyes.  He slowly did as she requested and gave her a puzzled look.

          “Now come here,” she grabbed his shirt, pulled him forward, and planted one on him.  Stingy let out a whistle and Trixie elbowed him in the ribs.

          “So can I take that as a yes?”  Pixel smiled, as they pulled apart.

          “Yes,” Amanda smiled back as he put the ring on her finger.  The group cheered.

          “Cake and ice cream for everybody!”  Bessie brought the cake in and it said “Congratulations” on it.

          “A little presumptuous aren’t we?”  Amanda teased.

          “Oh who are you kidding?”  Trixie chuckled.

          “All right you caught me,” she smiled as she reached over and took his hand in hers.  They enjoyed the rest of their evening together and everyone went home talking about their afternoon.


	25. Epilogue

The next morning dawned bright and cheerful as most mornings do in LazyTown.  The birds sang, the sun pushed the clouds from the night before away, and the mailman whistled a happy tune as he dropped off the federally protected envelopes and packages.  Stephanie carefully lifted herself out of bed and immediately went for the crutches.  It was early to try to get her brain to work and she awkwardly hobbled to the bedroom door.  She opened the door and made her way to the bathroom.  The door was closed and she gave it a knock.

          “One minute,” the familiar voice of Pixel’s fiancée rang out.  Stephanie nodded despite the fact the girl couldn’t see her.  True to her word, she wheeled out of the bathroom and out of the way not a few seconds later.  Stephanie hobbled into the room, glad that her Uncle had left the first floor bathroom intact.  It would have been a heck of a climb to get up the stairs using crutches.

          Not long after her bathroom stop, the pink-haired one made her way to the kitchen, finding Amanda making use of the coffee machine.  Despite the fact that she wasn’t supposed to be doing anything strenuous, the woman was standing up at the counter.

          “What does Bessie like in her coffee?”  She asked.

          “To be honest, I have no idea.  Things have changed so much since I was here last,” Stephanie said, making her way to the cupboard for mugs.

          “What do you like?”  Amanda wondered.

          “Oh I don’t touch the stuff,” the pink one replied.

          “Me neither.  Usually I prefer juice, iced tea, or water for breakfast.  Although I wouldn’t turn down a strawberry milk, now and then,” she winked.

          “Oh I love strawberry milk,” Stephanie sighed and went to the fridge.  Inside she found the strawberry syrup and milk.

          “Uncle Milford always knows what to buy,” she smiled but it quickly faded and Amanda took notice.

          “You ok?”  She asked.

          “No,” was all her new friend said as she set the items down on the counter.

          “You can tell me.  I don’t bite, well not all the time anyway,” this made Stephanie chuckle.  She quickly made the drinks and carefully moved one at a time to the kitchen table.

          “Sportacus says that as soon as I’m well to travel, my father wants me on the next train home,” she spilled.

          “Well then you just aren’t healed quite yet.  I’m sorry honey but you’re old enough to be making those kind of decisions on your own,” Amanda said.

          “I know and I can’t go now.  Not when we’ve finally got the chance to be together and be happy,” Stephanie was near the verge of tears.  Life just wasn’t fair sometimes.

          “Your Uncle is a great guy and I appreciate he and Bessie letting me stay here in a more handicapped accessible state but I never figured him for a kiddy diddler,” her friend shook her head. 

          “What?  No!  I didn’t mean my Uncle,” the pink one corrected her.

          “Good because I’d be calling Chief Dooright up right now,” Amanda told her.

          “He and I have danced around so much and we finally get to a place where we can be happy and my father is intent on ruining it,” Stephanie heaved a sigh.  Her friend remained silent making a mental note of all the available young men she knew in LazyTown.  She knew a few of Pixel’s work friends but none of them could be hanging around because she would have noticed.

          “This person we’re talking about, he happens to be about six foot tall, muscular, drool-worthy, and wear blue?”  This made Stephanie blush and Amanda chuckled.

          “You landed yourself the mother-lode and didn’t share?  Naughty, naughty,” her new friend said.  Stephanie gave her a look and she replied,

          “Hey just because I’m getting married doesn’t mean, I’m dead.”  This made her friend chuckle and she said,

          “We haven’t told my parents.  We figured there was too much going on to absorb it all and then Pixel showed me the ring for you and I just didn’t want to steal anyone’s thunder.”

          “Girl, from what I understand, it wouldn’t be exactly sending shockwaves through our little group,” Amanda gave her a look.

          “Pixel blabbed didn’t he?”  She asked.

          “He only said that your reception of me was a little awkward because you had a crush on him, oh so long ago, which I get.  He did mention you had other prospects and from what Trixie was saying I kind of figured it out,” she replied.

          “What did Trixie say?  I didn’t tell her yet.  She’s going to be so mad,” Stephanie buried her face in her hands.

          “All she said was that she’d seen the look on your face when Sportacus came into to see you at the hospital.  Anyway I say this afternoon when we meet for lunch after my therapy session, you tell everyone.  Then you two can focus on your folks.  I know my parents weren’t thrilled when they found me lying in a hospital bed but Pixel proved to them I was in good hands.  My guess is your folks will too when you explain the situation.  Besides it’s not like he’s proposed or anything, right?”  Amanda asked.

          “Oh no.  We’re just figuring out what we are and where we stand, although I’m pretty sure if he asked me this second, I would say ‘yes’,” Stephanie sighed.

          “You have got it bad, sister,” the girl chuckled and took a sip of her strawberry milk.  The two sat in silence for a few minutes until Bessie poked her head into the kitchen, the smell of coffee, bringing her downstairs.  Soon afterward Milford followed and the group enjoyed a nice breakfast together.  There would be troubles ahead but they could handle it as long as they stuck together and that was something Stephanie intended to do.

**The End**


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